In addition to two of our major partnership programmes, Westminster Platform and our relationship with Harris Westminster Sixth Form, the School partners with many local state schools to: make learning available to pupils in subjects that are not offered to them in their own schools; bring workshops to younger children, to encourage an enthusiasm for practical science and music; provide young people with support for university applications and study.

An average of 15 pupils come to us from partner schools, Westminster Harris Sixth Form and the Grey Coat Hospital, to study A Level subjects such as Art History and Geography and we host a Classics Academy, giving both GCSE and A Level pupils access to Latin and Greek classes. We are aware that many schools are unable to adequately equip their pupils for the educational, practical and social challenges of university study. To provide the necessary training, we invite between 20 and 30 pupils each year to attend our weekly university preparation lessons at the School. In addition to this, our teachers offer specific personal support to partner-school pupils applying to study disciplines such as medicine and architecture, as well as regularly providing interview advice and practice.

Throughout the academic year whole classes of pupils in Years 4 to 6 from surrounding partner schools are invited to attend a series of interactive science workshops, in Astronomy, devised and led by members of the Science Department and some of our Sixth Form pupils. The objective is to enthuse the younger children about practical science and its uses in medicine and technology, while offering our Sixth Form pupils an opportunity to volunteer as mentors and role models. For more information about pupil volunteering at Westminster, please see our Volunteering page.

We also partner with the Linacre Institute to provide educational opportunities for young people, to help them to access the very best Higher Education the UK has to offer.

Westminster School’s Music Department has a detailed partnership programme, which has a strong focus on community partnerships with local schools. Find out more about our Music Partnerships.

Over the years, Westminster has taken part in a series of pupil and teacher exchanges with schools in France, Germany, Chile, America, China and India, developing and sharing key ideas about educational best practice together with some of the world’s leading schools. This helps to ensure our own educational offering continues to be of the highest quality, in addition to supporting other academic institutions.

The School has partnered with a network of schools and organisations in Kolkata, India, sending both pupils and teachers to volunteer in the area, collaborating on teaching and welfare projects. Geographers have travelled to Tunisia as Almadanya Youth Ambassadors, to help build a local library and to plant trees as part of the United Nations Billion Tree Programme, and pupils have participated in a series of creative Arts events in schools to promote language and cultural exchange.

We also have an established rowing outreach project with Future Hope, a charitable organisation working in the same area, and together we are helping some of the most vulnerable children from the streets and slums of Kolkata.

Our Charities Forum, made up of both pupils and staff, meets regularly to develop ideas for school-wide fundraising and supports individual pupils who have their own initiatives. Each House also elects their own Charity Representative and nominates a particular charity to support each year, so pupils really take ownership of both the activities and the beneficiaries of their fundraising. There are also opportunities for families to get involved, particularly with our annual whole-school fundraising event ‘September Saturday’: a fair enjoyed by pupils and parents alike, all contributing to the running of various stalls, games, raffles and an auction. At September Saturday 2022, the School raised £30,000 for Westminster House Youth Club, a charity established in 1889 as the Westminster Mission by members of Westminster School.

In an average year the School raises somewhere in the region of £40,000, meaning we are able to support approximately 30 different charities; from national and international organisations such as CAFOD to smaller local charities such as the Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children and the Westminster Almshouses. Support of the latter type gives pupils the opportunity to combine their fundraising efforts with their volunteering, involving themselves practically in the work which they have financially helped to make possible. Academic departments also run their own charitable initiatives, for example the Music Department runs its own Music Partnerships programme, which includes working with Evelina Children’s Hospital and Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres.

The School works with In-Deep Community Task Force every Christmas to provide hampers for the residents of Westminster – pupils and their families donate items and many choose to take part in the packing and deliver the hampers. In addition, currently 15 pupils in the Sixth Form have partnered with the charity Bookmark to offer bespoke reading assistance to primary school pupils struggling with reading. Sixth Form pupils also volunteer to take part in the annual 24-hour Football Marathon, to raise money for the charity Alive and Kicking.

One of the School’s long-standing outreach programmes is Westminster Phab, now in its 45^th year. For more information, visit our Phab page.

Whether they choose to work with the elderly, teach children from partner state schools, support people with disabilities or serious health issues, or give their time to environmental projects, every pupil is encouraged to participate in some type of volunteering during their time at Westminster. Find out more about pupil volunteering at Westminster.

At Westminster any pupils pair up their passion for a subject with volunteering work. For example, Music pupils who opt to take the Volunteering in the Community Option (in addition to their academic subjects) take training to allow them to support the School’s Music Partnerships work; this is an extremely popular Option, which proves very rewarding for all those involved.